Black Mountain Management partners, from left, David Helmers, Tiffany Finley and John Smithwick, founded the boutique music management business based on a shared love of music, a roster of talented artists and a lack of related business support for bands in the region.
While Central Kentucky has long been oozing with musical talent, businesses that focus on its infrastructure — such as management and public relations — have often been harder to come by. With that in mind, music-industry veterans David Helmers, Tiffany Finley and John Smithwick partnered in the summer of 2020 to launch Black Mountain Management. The artist management company provides support for local and regional musicians by helping to keep the business aspects of music from overwhelming the art for its clients.
At the time, the trio was coming together to bounce ideas off each other. Each of them managed individual artists on their own — Helmers with DeeOhGee, Finley with Eric Bolander and Smithwick with Nicholas Jamerson. They also had ample experience producing music events, with Helmers having worked on Railbird and Moontower Music Festivals, Finley acting as executive director of the Master Musicians Festival in Somerset and Smithwick hosting occasional house concerts at The Raven House. With so much common ground and vision, talks quickly built into more of a collaborative vision. Soon, Black Mountain Management was born.
“We all brought experience from managing our artists and producing events on various scales to the table, so it made sense for us to team up and do more than just share notes,” said Helmers.
Black Mountain’s roster currently consists of four artists: Nashville rock ’n rollers DeeOhGee and The Minks; Lexington-based country rocker Eric Bolander, and zydeco-fueled soul artist Bee Taylor, also based out of Nashville. According to Helmers, Black Mountain is attractive to bands from Music City due to its personal touch and treating its clients like family, something that’s harder to come by in the music metropolis of Nashville. Each of the firm’s clients has been touring and releasing new music. DeeOhGee and Bolander both released new albums within the past six months. The Minks are currently working on new music, and Bee Taylor recently released a documentary from her set at the 2021 iteration of the Master Musicians Festival.
“We’re all fans of our artists, first and foremost,” said Finley. “I have to really geek out and love your music if I’m going to represent you because it’s hard to sell anyone you’re pitching on someone who you’re not fully invested in. I used to work in sales and struggled with it, at times, because I didn’t care about what I was selling. I was just doing it for a paycheck.”
The collective’s services range from general management to publicity, booking, event production and more. According to Smithwick, strategic plans are customized for each artist and their needs.
Smithwick described the different services offered as spokes on a wheel, with the artist and management at the center. As a management company, Black Mountain’s responsibility is to act as a liaison in communicating or filling the role with those spokes, or team members, so that everyone is coordinated and working toward a common goal: getting as much attention on their clients as possible.
“We want to help in every way we can, but we also want to strategically bring in other people who can help our developing artists continue to grow,” Smithwick said.
For example, the management company recently contracted with Sarah Cahill as director of social media to help manage its artists’ online presence.
While each arrangement is unique, Smithwick said the most-common compensation structure for management services is an approximate 15 percent commission on earnings.
Black Mountain Management also seeks to keep its clients busy by finding —and in some cases creating — opportunities to perform. In October 2020, when much of the live music industry remained shut down, the management company organized Going to the Woods, a socially distanced concert held outdoors at Laurel Cove Amphitheater at Pine Mountain State Resort Park in Pineville. The event featured DeeOhGee, Bolander and Brother Smith.
Eric Bolander performing at the inaugural Black Mountain Jamboree at Hidden Ridge campground in Monticello. The event returns June 3-4 with Sierra Ferrell, Grayson Jenkins, Brother Smith, Nicholas Jamerson, Bee Taylor, Bolander, The Minks and The Bolo Mules.
Then in June 2021, the inaugural Black Mountain Jamboree was held at Hidden Ridge, a 40-plus acre campground along Lake Cumberland in Monticello owned by Smithwick and his wife, Ginger. That event will return for its second-annual gathering on June 3-4, with music from Black Mountain’s four artists along with Sierra Ferrell, Grayson Jenkins, Brother Smith, Nicholas Jamerson and The Bolo Mules. Smithwick said a fall festival on the site is also under consideration.
“We’d like to add a second festival, but we also want to keep things balanced because there are new festivals constantly popping up,” said Smithwick. “It’s great for the artists, but as promoters, you risk oversaturating the market when the supply of festivals outweighs the demand.”
Much like Black Mountain is being cautious with its growth, its partners suggest the same of independent artists. They stress the importance of progressing at your own pace while acknowledging that today’s artists also need to be savvy about promotion and the business side of running a band — which is where Black Mountain aims to assist.
“Many artists say that they only want to focus on music, but I don’t think that’s possible nowadays,” said Smithwick. “You have to be a relentless self-promoter, even if you do have a team around you. There are so many artists and more ways than ever to listen to them. If you don’t promote yourself, you’re likely to get lost in the shuffle.”